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honed cylinders - do I have to replace piston rings?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheDuke
  • Start date Start date
T

TheDuke

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My piston rings all measured within spec but I wasn't sure if you're supposed to change all the rings if you hone the cylinders. What do you all think?
 
You dont have to, but why hone it if ure not. Hoping ure not going to use same theory and NOT use new gaskets
 
1980GS1000E said:
Since you're in there, why not?
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Especially as the cylinders are now honed. New rings will probably seal better than 30 plus y/o rings.

A tip from an old racing guy was to buy one size over and file them back to min gap.
 
Ecklund said:
Agreed.

Especially as the cylinders are now honed. New rings will probably seal better than 30 plus y/o rings.

A tip from an old racing guy was to buy one size over and file them back to min gap.
Click to expand...
EDIT : For clarification. YES to replace - MAYBE to oversize!

Good thought, but not totally necessary. If this is the first time the cylinders have been honed, and you don't have 50k+ miles on your bike, you likely don't need oversized rings. I replaced the rings on 2 bikes - 81 1000, and an 82 850. Both had roughly 30k miles, first hone / deglaze ever. I did not have them oversized, and the(NEW) OEM size rings went back in perfectly. No file or gap required (except on a defective ring, but other than being too tight, perfect!) and when I fired the bike up, I was back to 140lbs of compression =]

My recommendation would be to ask whomever honed your cylinders if he used an oversized hone, if he did then yes, step up. If not, go original. Or just ask him to measure your cylinders ;)
 
Call Me Ahab said:
EDIT : For clarification. YES to replace - MAYBE to oversize!

Good thought, but not totally necessary. If this is the first time the cylinders have been honed, and you don't have 50k+ miles on your bike, you likely don't need oversized rings. I replaced the rings on 2 bikes - 81 1000, and an 82 850. Both had roughly 30k miles, first hone / deglaze ever. I did not have them oversized, and the(NEW) OEM size rings went back in perfectly. No file or gap required (except on a defective ring, but other than being too tight, perfect!) and when I fired the bike up, I was back to 140lbs of compression =]

My recommendation would be to ask whomever honed your cylinders if he used an oversized hone, if he did then yes, step up. If not, go original. Or just ask him to measure your cylinders ;)
Click to expand...

Sounds right.
 
Really comes down to how much this guy honed your cylinder. Some peoples definition of "hone" is a light hone, while other people's definition might be to go crazy, and it turns into a Bore. hehe Then you're forced to buy rings that are one-step up.

You really need to measure the bore.(with proper tool)
Then, measure each rings "free-state" end-gap.
Then, measure each rings end-gap when placed into cylinder.
(you only test the Middle and Top rings, bottom one is Oil Ring obviously.)

The suzuki manual shows all the pictures and specs, you can do the quick math, and figure out how good your compression will likely be. 90% of the time, your rings will be perfectly fine. I've measured plenty of suzuki rings, even after 30 years, most of them have low mileage and barely noticeable wear. So if he lightly honed them, and your Ring-gap is at least Half-way in the spec range, you should be fine.
 
Do NOT!!! use oversized rings!!! They will be too much tension on the cylinder bores & cause too much wear & parasitic drag! Ray.
 
I agree with Ray. Oversize rings are to be used with oversize pistons after a bore job. No other application for them.
 
You really want to measure the bore clearance and compare to the factory spec. If it is with in the maximum then I would replace the rings with the proper factory size. I would also purchase the rings and have the cylinders honed to the ring manufactures recommended finish. The job will be much better if these things are done. When you measure the bore be sure to check the bores for round and taper also. I have no idea what a set of bike rings are but its gotta be cheaper than the time it takes to pull the cylinders off one of these engines.
 
1_v8_merc said:
Really comes down to how much this guy honed your cylinder. Some peoples definition of "hone" is a light hone, while other people's definition might be to go crazy, and it turns into a Bore. hehe Then you're forced to buy rings that are one-step up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the all the advice. And, I didn't have A guy do the job, THIS GUY did the job in his shed while burning the midnight oil; but, I didn't go too crazy, just until the walls looked clean again. I will double check all my measurements in the AM and go from there. The bike has around 30k miles, but my first pass at measuring the rings had them all well within spec. Just wasn't sure if it was necessary to spend the $150 for peace of mind.
 
TheDuke said:
Thanks for the all the advice. And, I didn't have A guy do the job, THIS GUY did the job in his shed while burning the midnight oil; but, I didn't go too crazy, just until the walls looked clean again. I will double check all my measurements in the AM and go from there. The bike has around 30k miles, but my first pass at measuring the rings had them all well within spec. Just wasn't sure if it was necessary to spend the $150 for peace of mind.
Click to expand...

Heheh, you had more guts than I did when it came down to it - I know a machinist in town who hones my cylinders for $10 per cyl. I didn't want to put out the money on a hone - also researched which to buy, hatch patterns and oh my god it can get crazy, especially if you have no idea what it all means!

I sincerely hope it went well, be sure to wipe down the cylinder walls with some clean oil.

Good luck with your continued efforts, have a great week.
 
If the stock rings seem fine, just get new stock rings, measure/file for clearance, and use them.
 
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